The senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, has clarified that the Senate unanimously approved electronic transmission of election results in the proposed Electoral Act amendments.
Umeh explained that the legislative process on the amendment was extensive and deliberate, involving first and second readings, zonal public hearings, consultations with stakeholders, and reports from a joint committee of the National Assembly.
He spoke on Thursday while appearing as a guest on Channels TV’s Politics Today amid growing public outrage over reports from the Senate’s consideration of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
“It takes a process to make a law. A bill must go through readings, public hearings and consultations before debate and passage. Laws are not made for the sake of it; they are made to solve problems. The amendment to Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022, dealing with the transmission of election results, emerged as a major public demand during consultations nationwide”, he added.
He noted that the issue became critical following the 2023 general elections, which were widely disputed and eventually litigated up to the Supreme Court.
“During the presidential election cases, arguments were taken on whether results uploaded to the IReV portal had legal backing. The Supreme Court held that electronic transmission was not expressly provided for in the law and discountenanced such evidence,” he said.
Umeh said stakeholders agreed the law must be amended to provide for electronic transmission, so courts would not again dismiss electronically transmitted results as “unknown to law”.
He explained that both chambers of the National Assembly worked on the amendment independently, adding that the House of Representatives had already passed its version of the bill with clear provisions for electronic transmission.
